


Finding Trust in a World That Doesn’t Allow It

by Maiika



Series: Kakayama prompts [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk, KakaYama - Freeform, M/M, Partnership, Tagged as a ship purely due to mutual admiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22254397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiika/pseuds/Maiika
Summary: Yamato finds himself paired up with an infamous partner who seems rather disinterested in taking him seriously.The outcome of their first assignment together changes both of their perceptions about their new partnership.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Series: Kakayama prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1361143
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Finding Trust in a World That Doesn’t Allow It

The stony expression his commander wears on her painted face leaves no room for argument, and yet Yamato has to ask.

“Are you sure about this assignment, Commander Senju?”

“Tsunade,” she scoffs, waving her painted fingernails at him, a subtle warning of the dangerous power packed in that enhancement of hers. “And who the hell do you think you are to question my judgment?”

Yamato sighs. “It’s just...Kakashi Hatake?”

She opens a compact sitting on her desk, gazing at her reflection in the tiny mirror and feigning disinterest in Yamato’s question. “He’s one of the Leaf’s best agents. Surely you don’t have a problem with that.”

He has problems. Kakashi Hatake’s enhancement makes him wary, first of all. Yamato doesn’t like a partner who can scan and memorize his every move. He doesn’t feel completely comfortable knowing at any time Hatake could pull up a hologram with that Sharingan eye and disorient him with the illusion. He also knows of Hatake’s reputation for being aloof and difficult to work with. And then there are the rumors about the death of Hatake’s latest partner...Yamato doesn’t dare bring  _ those _ to Commander Senju’s attention.

“I-“

Tsunade snaps her compact closed. “And  _ you’re _ one of the Leaf’s best agents. This temple case needs your Mokuton enhancement. No one else can aid Hatake in this hunt like you can.”

“Commander.” Yamato sighs. “May I-“

“No, you may not,” Tsunade says as she pulls a flask from her drawer and kicks her feet up on her metal desk. “Now go. I’d tell you you’re running late to your rendezvous, but then this  _ is _ Hatake we’re talking about.”

Yamato rises and smooths the front of his pants, and then straightens his denim jacket. “So right on time, then.”

“Yep.” Tsunade pops the p before raising her flask to her lips. Yamato turns for the door, knowing there’s no more point in arguing, until Tsunade’s voice stops him. “And Yamato? Don’t let him bully you  _ too _ much.”

“No,” Yamato says with a scowl as he reaches for the controls at the door. He watches as the door slides up, revealing the dark headquarters hall with an airy whoosh. “No, I won’t.”

* * *

The address of the rendezvous spot Tsunade’s chosen brings Yamato to the doorstep of a porn shop, to his dismay. He paces down an aisle, trying to ignore the scantily clad and naked men and women licking wet lips and eye-fucking him from tiny moving screens above piles of stickered merchandise. The erotic sounds they make are the hardest to ignore, but he reminds himself of the professional capacity of his visit here, which successfully negates any effect the locale may have on him.

He sighs when he spies his target against the back wall. Leaning against a shelf of clearance items with flashing neon lights highlighting the white canvas that is his hair, Captain Hatake looks completely at home in this cesspool of erotic media. His eyes are lowered to the pages of the open book held in his gloved hand. His choppy bangs fall over his eyes, just barely concealing the Sharingan, but Yamato detects the red shine under the neon lights. Hatake’s shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, his posture a disgrace, but his free hand is propped close to the laser gun holstered to his hip. 

Yamato shakes his head as he clears his throat and makes his approach. “Captain.”

Hatake looks up. He meets Yamato’s eyes and smiles. “Captain.”

As Hatake closes his book and tucks it into the cargo pocket of his pants, Yamato tilts his head and returns the smile. This is unexpected. Maybe Kakashi Hatake isn’t as bad as the rumors would have him believe.

“Are you ready to head out?” Yamato asks.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Kakashi says.

He brushes past Yamato, out through the porn shop doors, and doesn’t look back. It takes a moment for Yamato to realize he needs to move. His partner is leaving without him, though Yamato can’t imagine where he thinks he’s going alone. Maybe the rumors about Sharingan Kakashi  _ aren’t _ so off-base.

“Hey!  _ Hey _ !” Yamato calls when he reaches the outside, wind whipping in his face, and spies Kakashi rounding the corner.

Kakashi’s step doesn’t falter. “You’re driving.”

“Wait.” To Yamato’s surprise, Kakashi actually stops. “Don’t you think we should talk through this first?”

Kakashi turns to reveal eyes heavy with boredom. “What is there to talk about?”

“You have the Sharingan, I have the Mokuton,” Yamato says with forced patience and calm. “Androids will see us coming if we don’t use them to our best advantage. We need a plan.”

“Okay.” Kakashi shifts back into his slouch as he slips his hands into his pockets. He smiles until his eyes crease. “Here’s a plan for you. While you formulate our plan, I’ll terminate the androids.”

“What?” Yamato snaps along with his control. “That’s not-“

Kakashi peers down the street, and then turns the other way. “Where’s your car?”

“ _ My _ car? Hey, listen here!” Yamato sets his jaw and narrows his eyes as he grabs Kakashi by the shoulder and stops him in his path. “Commander Senju chose us both for this mission. I’m doing just as much of the hunting as you are.”

He releases Kakashi with a shove before he spreads his fingers in a burst. Kakashi sets his gaze on Yamato’s palm as if it offends him. Yamato bites his lip, trying not to crumble under the scrutiny. He’s never had a partner look at him like this. He’s never spoken to a partner like this. He almost regrets his outburst, until Kakashi smiles and speaks again.

“Let’s get going,” he says, dropping the smile, “and we’ll discuss it on the way.”

“Fine,” Yamato mutters to Kakashi’s back.

His new partner makes a beeline to Yamato’s parked car, leading Yamato to the door. Yamato falters as Kakashi circles around to the passenger side, making it clear that it is no coincidence he knows which car is Yamato’s. Shaking his head, Yamato unlocks the car door with the slightest effort of his Mokuton, extending his digit until it fits into the lock and fills the grooves inside, keying the release of the locks that only he can access.

When Yamato plops into his seat, Kakashi taps twice on the passenger window. Yamato meets his gaze and Kakashi gives him a cheeky smile through the glass. For a moment, Yamato is tempted to drive off and leave the jerk behind. But that won’t bode well in his mission report. Especially if things go sideways on the mission and it turns out he could’ve used the help.

“Get in,” he says as he taps the lock and ignites the engine. 

The front console glows to life as his car levitates from the curb. Kakashi’s door swings closed just as Yamato conveys the car forward. They glide through traffic, moving swiftly with every change of lanes and fast turn. Kakashi remains silent while Yamato drives. Every glance Yamato casts his way confirms Kakashi appears to be deep in thought. Perhaps he  _ is _ devising a plan for this mission. Or maybe he’s devising a way to finish off his new partner, just like he finished off his last one. Yamato feels a lump in his throat as their destination draws nearer. He doesn’t expect this to go over smoothly, but he has to ask.

“Your last partner, Rin Nohara-“

Kakashi jerks his head up, as if suddenly alert, but his attention is directed not at Yamato, but out the windshield. “Turn off your hydraulics. We’re near now and the androids will sense the vehicle.”

Yamato does as he’s told, but fixes his gaze on Kakashi as he releases the control. “Did you really kill her?”

“Yes,” Kakashi says curtly. He pulls his gun and cocks it. “Ready?”

Yamato slams on the brakes. “I’m not going into a mission with a man I can’t trust.”

“Why not?” Kakashi says with a wry smile. “I am.”

“I’ve given you no reason to distrust me.”

“Same here.”

Yamato balks. “You just admitted you  _ killed _ your last partner, Kakashi!”

Kakashi shrugs. “I was just being honest.  _ Most _ people say honesty is a good indication of trust.”

“You’re unbelievable.” Yamato scoffs.

Kakashi grins. “I know. To your left.”

“To my-“ Yamato’s eyes go wide the moment his brain catches up. 

He’s too late to avoid the collision that hits his door, dents it inward until the metal folds around him, but he is at least fast enough to unleash his Mokuton, molding wood around the folding metal to form a protective shell around himself. When the car stops spinning, leaving Yamato dizzy and breathless, Kakashi jumps out the passenger side door.

“Dammit!” Yamato pushes his Mokuton outward, fashioning with it an exit route among the twisted metal that was his door.

His car is destroyed, but the target is still out there. If he hadn’t been so hung up on getting answers from Kakashi, Yamato would’ve never alerted his target so early on of his presence. He didn’t even see the attack coming. If it hadn’t been for Kakashi’s warning-

Yamato drops the thought as he crawls his way out, his feet hitting the pavement. The thick, polluted air from outside filters into his lungs as he takes a look around, surveying his surroundings. Kakashi has moved their target away from the wreck, and Yamato has to catch up. He needs to see this mission through, no matter what kind of partner he has.

He pulls out his gun and breaks into a sprint, channeling the Mokuton seeds he’d dropped on Kakashi’s person back at the porn shop, during that rude brush-off. It doesn’t take long to round a corner and find Kakashi squaring off with their two targets, rogue androids whose programming malfunctioned, sending them on a killing spree first at the temple they served, then throughout the city. Hidan, with his platinum hair slicked back, skin melted off to reveal the cybertech skeleton once hidden beneath, and Kakuzu, whose lower mandible is the only bit of fabricated bone to be revealed, but whose tall form looks just as imposing and deadly. These two may have once passed for human, but it cannot be more obvious now how far from it they are.

Kakuzu, with his glowing green eyes, cocks his head at Yamato’s entrance, and that slight change seems to be all the distraction Kakashi needs. He is behind Kakuzu in an instant, striking through his power center of a chest with an electrically-charged fist. Yamato gasps as he watches Kakuzu fall to his knees, looking just as surprised as Yamato feels. Yamato didn’t know Kakashi had that tech in his gloves. These are the kinds of things he  _ should _ know before going out in the field with his new partner.

“H-how…?” Kakuzu says through gritted teeth as Kakashi removes his fist to reveal the hole of severed wires now exposed.

“You bastard! That’s cheating!” Hidan calls from where he stands a few feet away, closer still to Kakashi than Yamato. “I’m going to  _ enjoy _ killing you, Hunter!”

Yamato’s eyes go wide as his heart pumps with adrenaline. He knows Hidan is going to make his move, and fast, so Yamato has this one chance to take him down before Kakashi becomes the next casualty at this scene. He surges forward, extends his gun, and shoots the crazed android between the eyes. 

The nerve center in Hidan’s head should suffice for a shutdown, but when it doesn’t, and Hidan continues going for Kakashi, Yamato pumps several more rounds into Hidan’s exposed ribs. It seems even  _ that _ isn’t working as Hidan powers forward, and Kakashi dives out of the way just in time to avoid a direct strike from the blade-like arm swinging out of Hidan’s skeletal structure like a scythe. When Hidan lands on his feet, his knees seem to collapse. His torso follows, falling separate from the head that rolls off his shoulders in a dazzling show of colorful sparks. Yamato pants, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, more winded by the fear of the close call than any physical exertion.

“Good timing,” Kakashi says nonchalantly as he walks toward Yamato, kicking Hidan’s head out of his way as he passes the debris. “You all right?”

Yamato nods, releases his shaky knees from his ironclad grasp, and stands upright. He’s fine. This isn’t his first android run and it most certainly won’t be his last. He only wishes for more warning next time, so he can know what he’s getting into. And he wants to leave the next hunt with a car that’s still  _ intact _ .

“Ah, shit,” he hisses as he recalls the damage to his car, and Kakashi strides past him.

As if reading his mind, Kakashi calls, “Need a ride home?”

“ _ Yes _ , I need a ride,” Yamato says as he runs to catch up to Kakashi’s side. “You know, next time you could give me a little more warning when you see androids coming at my car.”

“I did warn you.”

“Yeah! Too late to save the car!”

“Move faster next time, Tenzo.”

Yamato snaps his mouth shut on the retort he had planned. “Tenzo? It’s Yamato.”

“Oh?” Kakashi turns with his brows raised, as if this is the first time he’s hearing Yamato’s name. “That’s not what they told me.”

Yamato shakes his head. He falls in stride with Kakashi for only a second before Kakashi falters, falling behind with a grunt. Yamato recognizes the wince for the pain it signifies, no matter how quickly Kakashi hides it with a mask of indifference.

Yamato places a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing,” Kakashi says, brushing Yamato’s hand away. “Just a graze.”

“Let me see.”

Yamato has to move fast, because Kakashi is already recoiling from him. He noticed the left leg seems to be the source of the break in his stride, and it makes the most sense, because that was where Hidan nearly hit. Or  _ did _ make his hit. Android cybertech weapons are no joke. It could be serious, even if it is just a graze. Yamato’s seen more of those blades tainted with poison than he cares to admit. He snatches the fabric of Kakashi’s pant leg and lifts, not caring about his vulnerable position bent low with his back to Kakashi. A partner is a partner, no matter what. Yamato isn’t about to let  _ his _ die in the line of duty.

Kakashi’s calf looks firm and stable aside from a red welt winding around behind it where Yamato can’t see. When he tries to look around it, Kakashi steps away, letting his pant leg fall to the floor.

Yamato heaves a sigh and glares up at his partner. “Kakashi.”

“You saw. It’s fine.” 

“It’s not fine. I know you’re hiding something. And I  _ didn’t _ see it. Now bring that leg over here before I have to take you down.”

Kakashi’s expression is determined and stubborn, and Yamato knows he’s not going to win. But when he reaches for Kakashi’s leg again, Kakashi remains still. Yamato looks up, expecting a sneak attack, but Kakashi is frozen, immobilized, staring off into the distance.

“Kakashi?” Yamato chokes.

Kakashi falls forward, taking a plummet where gravity wins out with no resistance. When Yamato reaches his arms out to brace Kakashi’s fall, he is relieved to feel Kakashi’s warmth pressed against him. He was almost convinced Kakashi had died with the way he shut down so suddenly. Yamato shakes him, but Kakashi is absolutely unresponsive. 

He needs to get him to a hospital.

* * *

When Kakashi comes to, the bright lights and sterile smell surrounding him are all too familiar sensations. He groans before opening his eyes a second time, reluctantly taking in the full picture of his hospital room from yet another miserable bed. This time, though, there is one difference. In the chair beside his bed, someone actually waits. Commander Tsunade would only smack him for his near-fatal mistake in the field if she was here, so he knows it isn’t her even before he takes in the mousy brown hair and the thick eyelashes of his new partner. Tenzo sleeps with his hands folded in his lap. His chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm as Kakashi eases up, trying to sit, but finding his body too weak. He falls back into the pillow. This isn’t right. He should have died in the field. Tenzo should have left him, like anyone else would have after the way Kakashi treated him.

Tenzo’s breath catches before he presses his shoulders back and moves his hands to clutch the armrests of the wooden chair. Kakashi slides the stiff hospital sheets as high as he can manage, just over the bridge of his nose, wishing he could slink from view completely. He doesn’t want to explain himself to Tenzo, but if Tenzo cared enough to bring him here and wait, Kakashi knows he’ll demand some explanations.

Tenzo blinks furiously before setting his gaze on Kakashi. A smile spreads across his face, and Kakashi  _ must _ be doped up on painkillers, because he almost dares to think Tenzo is glowing. It steals his breath away.

“You’re awake,” Tenzo says, leaning forward in his chair. “I should get the nurse.”

Kakashi extends his hand, stilling Tenzo by the thigh he barely reaches. “Why?”

Tenzo furrows his brows. “They need to assess you, Kakashi. Whatever that chemical implanted in Hidan’s makeup was, it was lethal.”

“No.” Kakashi closes his eyes, inhaling against the pain tearing through his system. “Why did you save me?”

The question is spoken quiet enough to reflect how dejected Kakashi feels. He’s almost certain Tenzo didn’t hear him, that he’ll have to repeat the question, if he even wants to, when Tenzo pulls Kakashi’s hand from his leg and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“What kind of question is that?” he asks, and there it is again, that bright smile. “You’re my partner.”

Kakashi feels the tension in his face as Tenzo lets go, lets his words sink in before he leaves the room. Kakashi swallows down the lump in his throat, determined not to show any emotions when Tenzo returns with hospital staff. He blinks away the haze that temporarily steals his vision and steels his resolve for another human encounter.

* * *

Yamato stares at his glowing muted wristwatch set on the table from where he sits in his bedside chair. He knows he should be back in the field, responding to the commander’s summons, but he feels so strongly that he belongs here, by Kakashi’s side, that it is inexplicable. He can’t explain it to anyone else, but he  _ knows _ . Kakashi needs his help, maybe even more than the potential victims of rogue androids. And part of him knows that in spite of how aloof Kakashi plays it, Kakashi would do the same for him. He’s not the type to take partnership lightly, though the rumors surrounding him suggest otherwise. Yamato won’t ask about it again, though. The past doesn’t matter now. He only wants to be sure Kakashi heals from this in a day or so, as the doctors speculated. He only cares to know his partner  _ has _ a future.

When Yamato hears a hitch in Kakashi’s breathing, he scrambles to his side. He’s resorted to this, the past few days, thinking each time Kakashi loses consciousness might be the last. The doctors  _ speculate _ he’s recovering, but that’s all it is - speculation.

Kakashi’s eyes remain closed as he huffs out, “Still here?”

“Yes,” Yamato says with a groan and a roll of his eyes, figuring he should be thankful for the lack of a  _ Tenzo _ tacked on to that greeting. “And so are you. Congratulations.”

“For what?” Kakashi says before quickly moving on to, “Don’t you have somewhere to be?  _ Ever _ ?”

Yamato settles back into his seat, unable to help the fond smile spreading across his face as Kakashi opens his eyes. “I’m fine right where I am.”

Yamato wouldn’t know Kakashi’s breath hitches if he hadn’t seen the way his chest rises in a sporadic rhythm, but he recognizes it for what he is. Narrowing his eyes, he leans in and gives Kakashi his undivided attention. He knows whatever Kakashi has to say is not something he’ll be willing to repeat.

“She was an android.”

Whatever Yamato is preparing for, this isn’t it. “Wh-what?”

“Rin,” Kakashi says, closing his eyes. “She didn’t know...but when she found out what she was, she told me I had to - I had to terminate her.”

“That’s why you-“

“I  _ wouldn’t _ ,” Kakashi hisses, pinning Yamato with a fierce glare. His throat bobs, convulsing before he looks away. “That’s why she took matters into her own hands.”

Yamato sits back in his chair as realization sinks in, raising new questions in his head as others are answered. Rin Nohara died by Kakashi’s hand, that’s a fact. Yamato had no idea it had been her  _ choice _ . There’s always the chance Kakashi is lying, but Yamato wholeheartedly believes him. Between Kakashi’s earlier reluctance to discuss his old partner and the difficulty with which he makes his current confession, Yamato knows there is truth to his words. He doesn’t dare betray Kakashi’s confidence with distrust, because he can tell it isn’t easily given.

Yamato licks his lips and says the only thing he can. “I’m-I’m sorry.”

Kakashi shrugs. “She was an android. What’s there to be sorry about?”

Yamato shakes his head. “You don’t mean that.”

“What about you?” Kakashi says, narrowing mismatched, gleaming eyes at Yamato. “Do you mean it?”

Yamato exhales, feeling the weight of Kakashi’s gaze. He knows Kakashi means to question the sincerity of his sympathy, but his partner’s questioning doesn’t bother him. Under most circumstances, it would. But he understands. Not many people would feel for the loss of an android. Kakashi is probably used to people in this line of business having no sympathy for what happened to his artificial human of a partner.

“She was your partner,” Yamato says, tilting his head and trying to smile. “I’m sure she had your back. And your trust. And if she felt so strongly about asking you to be the one to terminate her, I’m thinking you had  _ hers _ as well.”

Kakashi scowls. Yamato is certain he is going to argue, but then his expression changes into something softer. He meets Yamato’s gaze without an ounce of bitterness in his mismatched eyes for the first time. He smiles. His face is beautiful when he smiles this  _ genuine _ smile. Yamato approaches the bed, feeling as if a weight has lifted from his shoulders.

He holds Kakashi’s hands in his. “Do you want a ride home when you’re released?”

Kakashi’s lip quirks in a crooked smile. “I told you already, Tenzo. You’re driving.”

Yamato hangs his head between his arms. “Kakashi. It’s  _ Yamato _ .”

“Yamato, I know, I know,” Kakashi says without an ounce of remorse in his tone. “By the way, while I’ve been out, did you file our report with Commander Tsunade?”

“No,” Yamato says slowly, cocking a brow. “ _ You’re _ the senior officer. I-“

“Well,” Kakashi drawls, his eyes sparkling with mischief, “you really can relay the incident so much better than I can. I wouldn’t trust anyone with filing a report on my behalf but you.”

Yamato groans and falls back into his chair. His new partner’s trust in him may be more problematic than he bargained for. Kakashi Hatake is rude, condescending, and lazy. In spite of these facts, he’s a great partner. He may be the best partner Yamato’s ever had, because he’s not the type to turn his back on a comrade.

Yamato plans to spend the rest of their partnership proving he’s deserving of the trust he’s earned.


End file.
